Cherry Hill – Lunenburg MA

6072009

With the day off after a long weekend, I spent the afternoon with my dad. He was on a quest to fill his tank with the cheapest gasoline in the state, so that put us in the Leominster-Fitchburg area. This past weekend we’d each had someone different recommend this place to us, so we wound up here where he had a Purple Cow, and I got a White Thunder cone.

Cherry Hill Ice Cream is in an old converted barn near the hill where it gets its name. It’s in Lunenburg just past the Leominster line, not far from where the lamented Whalom Park used to be. Not that you’d know that there was much of anything around as only a few houses dot the surrounding hills that cloak this area in verdant greens.

There’s not much of a tale of history to be found here, but it seems that scoops have been served for generations and generations. Everyone nearby seems to have a story about this place, but any history that is written hasn’t been transferred to the digital realm for anyone to have any real knowledge of its origins. The architecture of the barn places this in the 1950s with the Quonset style that was prevalent in military buildings of that era (and nearby Fort Devens being a possible original site).

Situated in the middle of a hilly field, there’s plenty of place for even the largest gathering of people to meet for a cone. Off to the side there’s an array of picnic benches and about half of those are on a covered patio so even the worst weather should’t keep anyone from checking this place out. On a day like this, the only thing that seemed to be missing was a water fountain to have a nice sip at the end of it all.

With my dad along, I didn’t run through a litany of samples to start things off, and instead aimed for a flavor that I hadn’t really seen anywhere before – white thunder. The simple vanilla base is the only thing simple as the cone is run through with a strawberry syrup swirl and then peppered with white chocolate truffles that have strawberry filling. Since I’ve been taking quarts of strawberries and making my own syrups and jellies, I would’ve preferred more natural flavors, but this was a decadent cone that only faltered when the swirl froze in more icily rather than the creaminess of the ice cream.

The gas we scored nearby was twenty cents cheaper than the places in Somerville that are the best in the city. Sometimes it’s amazing to realize that cheaper prices and better quality show up all the time in more remote places like this. Not that the gas is any better than what is in the city, but when it comes to the cone, nothing beats a farm-made ice cream.

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3 responses

As a Lunenburg native, I’ve had gallons and gallons of Cherry Hill in my day… Next time you go, get the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough!!

If you’re interested in other dairy products, I’m currently writing for a cheese blog based in Madison, WI (with a nod to Massachusetts and Cambridge-area specialities as well). Check us out at http://www.cheeseajourney.blogspot.com.